AN: Why hello there! How are you today! I'm not fine. I'm GREAT!

Again, thank you SO much for all the follows, favs and reviews. They're just so amazing. Thank you!

cassianaswindell123 mentioned that I seriously need to change Bill's past-self-name from 'Yin' to something else. If anyone as any suggestions, do tell!

Allotrios also wanted to know exactly why "Yin" seemed like a different entity and less like a darker half of Bill. Well it still is his darker half, it's just that at times—in my case at least—my inner self almost appears to be another me when it really isn't. Hope that makes sense! If not, I'll explain it more later.

If you like this, it's not a crime! Go and read chapter nine!

…A-X-O-L-O-T-L…

Chapter Nine: Not for the World

When Bill woke up, he was greeted with unspeakable pain. It was so horrible that Bill thought he'd go unconscious again. Instead he settled with closing his eyes and waiting for him to at least get used to it.

He then heard…something.

Bill opened his eyes and looked to the side. He saw a young boy, about nine or so, looking through the book Bill got from Mr. Evergreen.

"Who are you?" Bill croaked.

The boy looked up. He had black messy hair and brown eyes. "This book is fiat," was all he said.

"What do you mean?" Bill asked.

"I mean what I said," the boy said somewhat rudely.

"But that thing—."

"Lied to you," the boy finished. He closed the book and tossed it on the ground. "All Arnag cares about is manipulating people with their greatest desires and eating."

Bill figured that once he got out of this place, he was going to whack Mr. Evergreen in the face. He put himself and Dipper in danger for absolutely nothing!

"And the ring?" Bill asked, remembering the tempting piece of jewelry that could split him from his darker half.

"The ring exists, as does the book," the boy replied. "Arnag didn't have the real ring though, and Stratus Evergreen doesn't have the real book."

"So basically, there was no test, and he just wanted to eat my brother," Bill said sourly. Then his eyes widened in realization.

"Dipper…did Dipper get out okay?" He asked the boy. He didn't know why he just thought the kid would know.

"Yes," the boy said dismissively. "Do you still wish to separate yourself from your inner beast?"

"Of course, I do!" Bill snapped, then grunted when a stabbing pain rip through his chest. "Ugh, I think I broke a rib."

The boy chuckled and leaned against the rock wall. "You've broken a lot more than that. You're just lucky I dug you out of all that rubble. Also, I suggest you forget about getting rid of your old self."

"Why?" Bill demanded.

"The entity that you call Bill Cipher, the one you used to be, Matthew Pines, still exists," The boy drawled. "He'd do anything and everything to get the Emerald Chronicle—the real one—and the Silver Ring. They both need to stay hidden—,"

"Wait, wait what?!" Bill demanded, hissing in pain when another stab of pain shot through his chest.

The boy scowled. "Bill Cipher will—."

"Yeah, yeah I get that. But he exists? How? Aren't I him?" Bill asked.

The boy sighed in annoyance. "To be frank with you, you are utterly slow."

Bill scowled.

"You've gone back in time, not within a bootstrap paradox, but not in an alternate universe all together. Your past self still exists but these events won't be in an infinite loop. And since your past self still exists, this isn't exactly a different universe," the boy said.

"That raises even more questions," Bill muttered.

The boy shook his head in give a loud sigh. "Basically, whether we want to admit it or not, Bill Cipher has been a huge part of human advancement. Simply deleting him from existence would take a huge toll on humanity. The ever-benevolent Axolotl wouldn't want that, you see."

Bill frowned slightly then nodded. "Okay. So why does he—or me, want those things so badly?"

The boy smirked. "To leave this place of course."

"But, Sixer…"

"Only had part of the formula, you see."

Bill's eyes widened. He wondered if Stanford knew that…or if he too had no idea.

"And the ring will help him?" Bill asked.

"Do you always ask these much questions?" The boy demanded with narrowed eyes.

"Just answer the darn question," Bill snapped.

The boy looked up and hummed. "You know what? Figure it out yourself and…oh, oh my…" The boy's lips curved into a smirk.

"What?" Bill asked slowly. He didn't like the boy's smirk.

"It changed now that I've told you."

"What?" Bill said. "What changed?"

The boy smirked. "You'll see soon enough." He then exploded in a beam of white light.

Who is that kid?!

Bill then froze when he heard a familiar voice screaming his name. "Mabel…" Bill murmured and screamed loudly when his head began to throb. The nausea returned, along with the pain in his chest.

Oh boy! I tried to warn you kid! You should've took my advice! Bill's darker half laughed manically.

Caterpillars dotted his vision as Bill fought the urge to throw up. Mixed with the pain of his wounds and the love poisoning, his experience basically equaled torture.

Bill squeezed his eyes shut in a feeble attempt at shutting away the pain, only for them to snap back open as his throat closed off momentarily. When his breath returned, his vision had tunneled.

Fight it! Fight it! Bill told himself desperately.

You brought this on yourself, Welcome Matt! You shouldn't have gone so soft…

With one last shuddering breath, Bill once again lost consciousness.

…A-X-O-L-O-T-L…

"Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Stan!" Dipper cried as he ran back to the Shack, the only thing keeping him up was his adrenaline.

A nearby owl hooted nearby, and Dipper swore he saw a gnome jumping out of the way but he ignored it.

"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper said louder. "GRUNKLE STAN! MABEL!"

Dipper saw the lights in the shack turn on through the window. As he barged in, he collapsed on to the carpet panting for breath.

"Dipper?" Mabel asked urgently running down the stairs.

"Look," Stan grumbled rubbing his eyes. "There better be a good reason for waking—."

"Matthew's in trouble!"

As soon as those words left Dipper's mouth the annoyance in Stan's eyes where replaced with worry and the worry in Mabel's eyes increased ten-fold, in fact they where now lined with tears.

Dipper played with his thumbs while his relatives quickly dressed and ran downstairs.

"Where is he?" Stan asked.

"In the woods, he's trapped in a cave," Dipper said.

"Alright, golf cart it is, hop in." Stan got in the front seat and turned the engine on while Dipper and Mabel sat in the back.

Dipper was completely tense. This was exactly how he felt when Mabel was kidnaped by "Norman". But now it was even worse because his brother wasn't screaming for help; he had no indication that he was still alive.

Dipper guided Stan to the cave. Once they finally arrived the three of them jumped out.

"There," Dipper said pointing at the hole underneath the bush. Like before, it was covered in rocks.

Mabel gasped and ran over to the hole. "Matt!" She screamed tossing a tiny rock out of the pit. "Matthew!"

"We need to call somebody to get this cleared out," Stan said. "Do either of you have a phone?"

Dipper dug in his pocket and handed Stan the required object before joining his sister in trying to remove the rubble.

Please be alright Matthew.

The boy and his twin both felt a rush of relief mixed with fear as they heard their brother's blood curdling scream. He was alive at least, but he was in pain.

"Don't worry Matt!" Mabel cried throwing away rocks at a faster pace with Dipper. "We're coming! Just hang on!"

"Alright, they're on their way," Stan said kneeling next to the twins. "Don't worry kids everything's going to be alright."

Dipper wasn't too sure.

"We can't wait!" Mabel cried. "He could be on the brink of death!"

"There's nothing we can do," Stan said. "We just need to wait—."

"I'm not waiting; if me or Dipper were down there, Matthew would've stopped at nothing to save us, so neither am I!" Mabel said, the determination her eyes mixed with tears.

"I agree," Dipper said standing beside his sister. "Matthew needs us, and every second we waste could be crucial!"

"What are you going to do then?" Stan asked crossing his arms. "Find another entrance or something?"

"That's exactly what we're going to do!" Mabel said. Stan blinked twice at the twins as they leapt in the to the golf cart and drove off. "Kids! It's the middle of the—oh what the heck!"

Stan only wished Ford had been that assertive for his sake when his dad kicked him out of the house…

"Where to?" Mabel asked her brother as they sped blindly through the woods.

"Um, let's see," Dipper held his journal up into the moonlight. "There's a cave near by, we can check that one."

Mabel nodded.

The two arrived at the cave, it looked a lot like a gaping mouth with jagged teeth. The only thing stopping Mabel from running away was the memory of her brother.

"Got a flashlight?" Mabel asked Dipper as they reached the cave.

"Always," Dipper said, proudly producing a flashlight from his pocket. "Alright, let's see if this cave will lead us to him."

The twins advanced into the cave, calling their brother's name every so often.

At one point, Mabel gasped because she thought she saw the silhouette of her brother's limp body, but it was just a very large pile of dung.

"Matthew? Matthew!" Dipper called.

"Do you think he's alright? I mean…he was screaming…" Mabel shivered at the images that appeared in her brain.

"He's fine," Dipper said firmly. "We'll get him back."

"What if we don't?" Mabel asked, her voice cracking.

"Mabel, you were all determined not too long ago! Don't lose that fire now; Matthew need us."

Mabel swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "Right, let's keep going."

After some more walking and calling, Dipper's flashlight began to flicker.

"Aw, no, no, no!" Dipper banged the flashlight with his fist and it flickered on momentarily before turning off.

"Ugh! I just changed those batteries!" Dipper moaned before crashing into a wall. "Great! Dead end!"

Dipper looked around frantically. "There has to be something we're missing, otherwise we'll have to find another cave."

"It's alright, we just be extra watchful—ARGH!" Mabel exclaimed as a splashing noise could be heard.

"Mabel?! Are you alright?" Dipper asked.

"Ah! Cold, cold, COLD! I fell in a dumb lake!" Mabel cried.

"Huh," Dipper mumbled. Then an idea popped into his head. "Hey, Mabel, do you still have your phone?"

"What? Oh, yeah!" Mabel took the soggy device out of her wet pocket.

Dipper tapped the screen and counted to three before diving into the water. The cold was a shock to him but he pushed it down and used Mabel's phone as flashlight.

There, down below was a cave.

Dipper came out of the water, coughing. "Mabel!" He exclaimed. "There's a cave down there!"

"So?"

"So, it might lead us to Matt!"

"Matt's in an underground water cave?" Mabel asked in horror.

"That's not what I—."

Mabel dove under the water and Dipper followed, shinning the light of the phone and guiding them through the cave. Just as the phone became too waterlogged and shut off, Dipper and Mabel rose to the surface, on the other end of the tunnel.

"Ha! We did it!" Mabel said cheerfully as she climbed out of the lake and shook her self off like a dog. Dipper cried out indignantly as he was splashed with water droplets.

"Oh, get over it! You're already wet," Mabel said continuing her trek, then stopped when Dipper cried out in horror.

"What is it?" Mabel asked turning around.

"The journal! It's all wet!" Dipper cried holding up the sopping bound book. He looked through the pages and sighed.

"We have more important things to worry about, Dipper!" Mabel said.

"Yeah, yeah right…" Dipper said following his sister, but he occasionally would look at the book and sigh sadly.

"It'll be alright, Matthew can fix it up when we find him," Mabel said.

Dipper nodded and followed his sister, the duo once more calling out their brother's name.

By the time, they reached a bend, Dipper and Mabel's eyes had adjusted to the dark. So, when Mabel gasped this time, it was because she saw Bill's limp body (and not a pile of crap).

"Matthew!" The twins screamed at the same time. Mabel shook Bill hard. "Matthew! Come one, come on wake up!"

Dipper grabbed Bill's wrist. "He still has a pulse, but it's weak."

"What do we do?!" Mabel cried in panic.

Just then, there was the sound of scraping noises. A beam of moonlight shown through, and there where voices.

"They're clearing away the blockage now," Dipper said. "Matthew can get some help."

Mabel nodded silently as she watched the pale figure of her brother.

…A-X-O-L-O-T-L…

Mabel kicked her legs as she sat on the uncomfortable chair in the waiting room. Dipper was sitting beside her glancing at the clock ever so often, Stan had his arms crossed nearby and muttered a few things under his breath time to time.

Then a doctor walked in and cleared his throat. All three Pines looked at him with rapt attention, Mabel, clutching her brother's hands and he clutching back.

"He's stable," The doctor said, and the three Pines sighed in relief.

"But, he's currently in a coma," The doctor continued.

Well, that ruined the mood.

"C-can we see him?" Dipper mumbled.

The doctor nodded and gestured for them to follow him.

Mabel instantly regretting coming.

Bill looked like he was sleeping but he was so much paler, he had bandages all over his body and when she squeezed his hand it was cold.

"Matt…" Mabel whispered hoarsely. Her lip trembled and she hugged Dipper, sobbing. Dipper hugged her back, sniffing and wiping tears from his eyes. Stan was silent as he touched his nephew's hand.

"Why'd you have to go outside?" Dipper asked his brother's unconscious body. "Why'd you have to go?"

"Your brother's strong," Stan told the twins. "He'll pull through."

"R-right," Mabel said pulling away from her brother. She looked wiped her nose and eyes before squeezing Bill's hand. "You'll make it Matthew."

"Mr. Pines has sustained quite a few broken ribs," The doctor said. "A fractured kneecap, a broken fibula…"

Mabel tuned the man out as she looked at Bill. He was so peaceful. Every time Mabel saw him, he always seemed…stressed. Never exactly carefree, always battling something. It was almost like everyday, Mabel's older brother would partake in a battle, a battle hidden behind his perfect grins and the windows of his robin egg blue eyes.

She vaguely wondered if hoping that he'd open his eyes and smile and joke around again was selfish, and if she was, she couldn't help it, she so desperately wanted her brother back.

"You can sleep for now, Matt Hatter," Mabel whispered, squeezing Bill's hand tighter. "But come back to me and Dipper soon, okay?"

Mabel smiled a bit when she felt her brother squeeze her hand back, it wasn't much, but it was something.

…A-X-O-L-O-T-L…

That night, Mabel had the strangest dream ever.

She woke up in the hospital room where her brother was, except everything was grey.

"Hiya kid!" A shrill voice said.

Mabel screamed as a triangle with a top hat and a bowtie floated in front of him.

"Hey calm down!" The triangle said.

"Are you some sort of…nacho thing?" Mabel asked with narrowed eyes.

The triangle then gained an annoyed look. "Why do humans keep calling me that?! Whatever, how are you Mabel Pines?"

Mabel gasped. "You know my name! Are you some sort of tortilla chip psychic?"

"I'm not a chip!"

"Okay, okay…so, what's your name?"

"Oh! How rude of me!" The triangle laughed. "The name's Bill Cipher!"

"Okay Bill," Mabel said. "What are we doing here?"

"This is just a dream," Bill said. "But I'm just showing you your brother, he's not going to make it by the way."

"WHAT?!" Mabel shrieked. "No! That can't be true!"

Mabel's heart clenched and tears lined her eyes.

"Hey, don't cry, Shooting Star!" Bill said patting her on the back. "I came to help you out!"

"Really?" Mabel asked.

"Really! I just need something in return!" Bill said, giving her a mouthless smile.

"Okay…what do you want?" Mabel asked uncertainly.

"A puppet!"

"A puppet? For a stage play?"

"A stage play…" Bill mumbled straightening his bowtie. "I guess you can call it that!"

"So, if I give you a puppet you'll save Matt?" Mabel clarified.

"Yup! It wont be exactly permanent, but it'll last until we can get him a real cure! So, deal?" Bill held out his hand and blue flames appeared.

Mabel had red flags going off in her brain, and she could think of some reasons why. She didn't really know this guy, he could be lying. But then Mabel thought of Matthew.

Matthew who would help them go to sleep when she or Dipper had nightmares.

Matthew who would read Harry Potter and Shakespeare to her and her brother in a British accent and change his voice pitch for the different characters just to make them laugh.

Matthew who would tell them jokes that would cause their mom to give him the stink-eye.

Matthew smiling with them.

Laughing with them.

Playing with them…

Mabel wouldn't lose him for the world.

"Deal!"

…A-X-O-L-O-T-L…

Beep, beep, beep.

It was the first thing Bill heard as consciousness began to pull away at the dark veil of slumber. As his eyes opened slowly, Bill could see that he was in a whitish room…a hospital judging from the IV and that obnoxious sound. When he was fully conscious, he realized something else.

He was alive. Alive.

Bill though for sure that he'd die, right then and there. But no, here he was, awake in a hospital bed…unless of course this was heaven. But for two reasons, that idea didn't work. One, he was a demon, and he was pretty sure that when he did die he was going to spend an eternity burning in hell. Two, Bill was also sure that heaven didn't smell like cleaning products but hey, what did he know? Maybe this was heaven.

The door opened and in came a doctor, along with Stan. When they looked at Bill and saw he was awake, they looked on in surprise before Stan grinned. "Hey, kiddo! How are you?"

Nope. Not heaven.

Bill tried to talk but a grunt came out instead; it was if his vocal cords didn't function properly.

"Don't speak quite yet, Mr. Pines," The doctor said. "I must say, though. You recovered a lot quicker than I anticipated."

That's what I think.

"We X-rayed an hour ago, and your bones seemed to have…healed. Absolutely astounding though."

Did I get my regeneration back? Bill thought hopefully.

"Sorry the kids couldn't come," Stan said. "Mabel wasn't feeling well and Dipper wanted to make sure she was alright, they made you this, though." Stan held out a card covered in glitter and showed it to Bill.

Bill looked at it, the front said GET WELL! In pink glitter. Below was a coloured picture of Bill, Dipper, and Mabel, holding hands and standing in a lily field. Bill felt his heart swell, and a tiny smile tugged at his lips.

AN: AH...fluff!

Also, WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT MABEL? Oh yeah, because I made you *evil smirk*.

So, our favorite gal has followed in the footsteps of Dipper and Ford and made a deal with the nacho overlord. Oh dear…

And "The Boy" will be important later.

Hope you enjoyed!

Fantasy Freak Out!